Name: Changing your life Author: Min-chao Chang Publisher: Price/N.T. $320 Pages/216 Size/20 Published Date/2003.4
	Reason for recommending: ◎Ms. Li-yu Fu: A treasury with teaching material of “nature and life-tech” domain. ◎Recommended by Books.com editor ◎Recommended by Open Up To A Good Book

[Author’s foreword]

　　President Yuan-tseh Lee of Academia Sinica often stresses that knowledge should be connected with life, and he thinks that science education must begin with surrounding things in everyday life──Because only objects that can be touched every day can drive the student’s interest and curiosity, further taking an initiative to seek knowledge and understand it completely.

　　Minister Jung-tsun Huang of the Ministry of Education also announced repeatedly: To implement the educational policy of “Nine-year Integrative Curriculum”; And the new Nine-year integrative curriculum is focusing on everyone’s life experience as the learning point. Take the design of the curriculum “nature and life-tech domain” for example, hopefully with the recognition of the life-tech, it would help the student understand its common sense of the natural science such as physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, then comprehend it completely, not just to recite for the sake of the testing, cramming and force –feeding knowledge, but a common sense that “can be carried around” and thinking ability!

　　Therefore, my purpose of writing this book primarily is hoping that it would be able to provide the new science and technology of daily life and the related applied knowledge for the students, and hoping that it would be helpful for learning the natural science after the students read it, and truly achieve the goal of “science-learning is rooted in the daily life”!

　　Especially under the environment that schoolteachers can now compile their own teaching materials today, for the teachers to learn the new knowledge of life-tech speedily, also to blend it into the teaching materials are the top priority. I hope that this book will be one of the databases the teachers use to create interesting and lively teaching materials.

　　 In addition, the domestically renowned neuro-science scholar, professor Daisy L. Hung has been encouraging everybody to read, she thinks that “reading” can absorb the knowledge faster than “listening”. I also hope that this book would help every interested reader to absorb the life-tech knowledge in the shortest time, and to enhance the convenience and safety of daily life.

[Author Profile]

　　Min-chao Chang, who was born in Taiwan in 1948, and graduated from National Tsing Hua University with degree in chemistry and finished chemistry graduate program. He currently works at the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan, long-termly engaged in the development of industrial products and the research and establishment of environmental protection technology, he is often invited to all levels of schools and agencies for related speech or professional lecture; also is the CEO of CCTMF that is based on increasing the level of science education domestically, also served as editor in chief in the that mainly introduces the technology of industrial product development, managing editor for 10 years.

　
[Intro]

　　 In daily life or news, the chemical terms are often heard, it is regretful that common knowledge of Chemistry of Taiwanese people is not sufficient, it is often not understood; Therefore, President Yuan-tseh Lee has great concern for the issues like popularity of the chemical knowledge and the teaching materials. The author of this book Min-chao Chang, taking the examples of the common objects or subjects, and explains the basic chemical concept and common sense to everybody, such as water, tea, vitamins, cosmetics, battery……, and extends it all the way to health care of human body, safety instruction of the objects, debates about environment and environmental protection. Material was broadly adapted from many sources and the content is explained in plain language the results of a profound research, hopefully it would be broadly used as the supplemental materials for students in junior high schools and high schools, or just adult’s scientific reading.

　
[Afterword]

The citizens and scientific education of the twenty first century

　　 People who live in this century probably have already realized that science and technology has permeated into every corner of our daily life. We can often see or hear the new discovery or products with updated science and technology on TV or in the newspapers and magazines. Professor Daisy L. Lung of Yang Ming University once said in a speech: “all the scientific knowledge that has accumulated in the past fifty years has exceeded far beyond the past five thousand years, science is no longer scientist’s concern, it is everyone’s concern, it has deeply affected everything in our daily lives.” in deed, everyone feels the same, therefore, today in the twenty-first century, everyone should understand the scientific knowledge as much as possible, scientific products and related development of scientific technology is very much needed. The recognition of the science or technology is no longer the scholar’s concern but the basic capacity of modern day life

　　 Also as the result of the fast accumulation of scientific knowledge and the fast-changing scientific development, the science education in the twenty first century is facing great challenge. In this knowledge-exploding era, all the educators in the world are thinking what kind of science education should be provided to be able to develop students’ basic scientific knowledge and the related life-tech update, to expect good citizens who are able to adjust to this ever-changing time with capacity for science in the future. Another words, today’s basic science education is no longer with the only objective of developing good scientist in the future like in the past, but to cultivate all students to possess the scientific competency that is strong enough to survive the twenty first century.

　　 We often say that “the knowledge is the accumulation of experiences”, the best teaching method should be connected with life-tech to help the students develop the “scientific ability that goes everywhere”, allow the students to learn from the experience of their own lives, also comprehend the scientific principles completely, so that the student no longer learn the sectioned scientific knowledge, but a whole science and technology that can be adapted to the fast changing of the twenty first century.

　　 Also based on the beliefs mentioned above and under the suggestion of the scholars and long term planning, the Ministry of Education has implemented the science education that integrated physics, chemistry, biology and life-tech based “nature and life-tech domain” teaching in the Nine-year Integrative Curriculum of the junior high schools and elementary schools, This kind of curriculum design is totally different from the single-subject teaching in the past, the teachers naturally would question, how are we going to teach? Traditional teaching, the teacher writes the related theory or formulas on the blackboard orderly, the students diligently write it on the notebook, and go home practice diligently, diligently prepare for the test only. However, the students under this type of teaching, we often see the students with high score on Physics but not knowing how to repair the electronics around them.

　　 Therefore, if we think the traditional teaching is not ideal, and believe it is a good idea to develop the understanding of the principle of a subject through the recognition of the life-tech knowledge, observation for the issues around us and training for solution, we should talk about the roles of teachers and the learning attitudes of the students in the “nature and life-tech domain” of Nine-year Integrative Curriculum.Because of modern technology is not only diversified, but also improving continually. It is not practical to think the teachers teach all and know all. Therefore, facing the curriculum design of “life-tech”, the teacher’s teaching strategy and the way students learn must change also. For the students, new way of learning should be within the curriculum, students can set the learning objectives themselves, conduct the study that is related to the practical daily life under the teachers’ initial introduction and suggestion. Using the teachers’ introduction or the scientific procedures they are familiar with in the process of research, such as observation, questioning, assuming, and designing an experiment, results and discussion. This way, the students may truly comprehend the scientific principles and be able to use in the future.
Therefore, under this type of learning environment for the student, the role of the teachers become assistant, one answers questions, meanwhile, also is a researcher, focusing on teaching the student how to collect the problems, observing pheromones and the related reference and how to conclude the scientific principles that can solve the problems.

　　 This learning method of science education is never before seen to the teachers and students in the junior high schools and elementary schools, the student’s learning method is transformed from accepting passively to researching proactively, the teachers also must prepare the teaching material, and must gather data or absorb updates often, therefore, the content of this book, hopefully not only provides the understanding and recognition of the surrounding life-tech, but also be helpful to the teachers on the teaching material design of “nature and life-tech domain” in the Nine-year Integrated Curriculum and to the students on the gathering and recognizing the life-tech knowledge.